McClaren faces more frustrations over England coaching staff

Steve McClaren is battling to persuade his new employers at the Football Association to appoint a full-time England Under-21 coach but will not be recruiting anyone to fill the senior role he had earmarked for Alan Shearer.

Peter Taylor, the current, part-time, Under-21 manager, combines that job with his primary position as manager of Crystal Palace but has been informed that his two-year FA contract, which expired last month, is unlikely to be renewed.

Although Taylor - who refused to discuss his position last night - had an amicable and lengthy meeting with McClaren yesterday he drove out of central London aware that he is now engaged purely on a freelance, game by game, basis. Indeed, so far, he has only been asked to take charge for one fixture - next month's meeting with Moldova at Ipswich.

While Taylor is highly respected at Soho Square, McClaren regards the Under-21s as a pivotal development position which should be full time. He is understood to have a coach in mind to preside over not only the Under-21s but other junior teams and yesterday said: "I'll be keeping a very close eye on the different youth teams, particularly the Under-21s."

It is all part of the velvet revolution the former Middlesbrough manager hopes to effect with England but, already, McClaren's brave new world has been undermined by Shearer's decision to dedicate himself to BBC punditry rather than international dug-outs.

McClaren had hoped Shearer's appointment would spearhead an overhaul of the coaching staff but it is believed his intended role as a conduit between the dressing room and the England management team of McClaren and Terry Venables was vetoed on grounds of finance.

"Alan wanted to work for Steve but it didn't happen because of the terms," a source said. Shearer has since agreed a lucrative four-year deal with the BBC and FA sources last night confirmed McClaren was not seeking to hire an alternative.

McClaren, who has confirmed Ray Clemence will continue as goalkeeping coach, regards Shearer's decision as understandable but a major blow. An FA insider last night denied that football's ruling body was cutting back on its finances. "We pay the going rate for the right people," he insisted.